nofars rewinds: 1965

NOFARS REWIND: 1965

The January 1965 NOFARS newsletter was identified as volume 3, Number 25 presumably signifying that it was the 25th newsletter mailed out since early 1963. Louise Chandler, WA4KLN was editor and also NOFARS secretary. Other officers included President Jesse Morris, W4MVB; Vice President Landon Hoyt, W4PLE; Treasurer Smitty Smith, K4GHG and Activities Manager Ray LaRue, W4BYG.

NOFARS met in the Riverside Christian Church basement auditorium on Riverside Ave. near Cherry St. The schedule for the January meeting included eyeball QSOs from 7 until 7:30pm and a business session 7:30-7:50pm. Program speaker John Witherspoon, W4GUJ talked from 7:50 until 8:45. Claude Dearmin, K4VRI and several helpers served coffee and snacks during the break from 8:45 until 9pm.

Usually a late movie followed the break but the January schedule didn't mention one. Movies were one-reeler technical films, manufacturer PR features or military training films. NOFARS members who worked at Jax NAS, Southern Bell, etc. usually brought these films to meetings. Some were relevant and interesting while others produced big yawns. Since lights were out while the projector ran, it was inconspicuous and easy to pick up and leave if things turned too boring.

Louise included a reminder about the Weds. night AREC (Amateur Radio Emergency Corps--later renamed ARES) net on 21.440 MHz and indicated that check-ins had been down lately (maybe due to the holidays). It was time to renew annual dues which were $2, probably equivalent to $15 or so today.

FEBRUARY 1965: NOFARS Activities Manager Ray LaRue, W4BYG spoke at the February 11th meeting about the activity calendar for 1965. The Board decided to present an award each quarter to an outstanding member based on nominations made by the membership. Each nomination should be accompanied by a brief summary of accomplishments.

A new dues structure took effect: $4 per year plus $1 extra for additional family members. Intermediate speed code practice was offered on 21.4 MHz at 7PM. (Days of the week not indicated)

MARCH 1965: NOFARS meeting included a talk and demonstration of an RF impedance bridge by Ernie Haralson, W4DAA. These bridges and grid dip meters were used for antenna tuning before antenna analyzers became affordable for most hams.

Ernie was Chief Engineer for WPDQ radio and maintained a five-element, tall-tower vertical array tuned to 600 KHz adjacent to where the Normandy Blvd. Walmart sits today. He stayed with WPDQ for many years before moving to WJAX AM/FM as Chief Engineer.

I worked with Ernie at WJAX when I was an announcer there. Ernie, a longtime NOFARS member, was a very pleasant person who kept the audio equipment and transmitters sounding great and working well.

Operation Shopping Center was set for Saturday March 20, 1965. The NOFARS newsletter read "for those who can participate please contact Al, W4UBN, who is captain of the Roosevelt Mall operation, or Jesse W4MVB who is heading up operations at Lakewood (shopping center). For those who can't participate actively, please make an effort to visit one of the sites to see what your club is doing."

PUBLIC AMATEUR RADIO DISPLAYS: Usually, NOFARS collected messages from the public and sent them out as "radiograms" using a portable set-up. Messages went via HF traffic nets to destinations around the nation and Canada. W4IZ originated over 1,000 radiograms some years during annual operations at the Jacksonville Fair.

Fair officials provided NOFARS with a booth at a deeply discounted rate under the east stands of the Gator Bowl next to the World War I Veterans booth. Portable antennas placed high in the stadium provided an adequate signal for W4IZ.

These radiogram messages usually were under 25 words. Greetings from the fair to an aunt in Seattle, hello to a sister in Tennessee, etc. were typical messages. With no internet, e-mail or texts then, radiogram service was quite a draw. The repeater autopatch was another big deal at the fair. People buzzed when a ham demonstrated placing a telephone call with a handheld transceiver.

This was long before cellular telephones, mobile devices and affordable wireless service became available to the general public.﻿

APRIL 1965: NOFARS newsletter editor Louise Chandler, WA4KLN wrote that the April 8th meeting at Riverside Avenue Christian Church includes an auction. She reminded those attending "please do not put (out) cigarettes on the floor at the Church. We have plenty of ash trays at the rear table for your use, so please get one if you are a smoker."

Another NOFARS transmitter hunt was set for Sunday, April 11th from 1:30 to 3:30 PM at Atlantic Blvd and St. Johns Bluff Rd.,a sparsely-populated area then. St. Johns Bluff Rd. was a dirt road south of a narrow, winding Atlantic Blvd. and woods surrounded the small Sandalwood subdivision. ﻿

Planning for NOFARS 1965 Field Day at Ray Greene Park in Highlands started. Activities Manager W4BYG asked members to lend NOFARS coax runs and other FD items.﻿

The Florida Times-Union published a story and photograph in a Sunday edition about Pappy, WA4WTC. He handled thousands of radio phone patches to link overseas military to relatives here at home. WA4WTC was a fixture each night on 20 meter SSB running several hours of patches including some from the South Pole.

The May 13th meeting was devoted to Field Day planning.

INCENTIVE LICENSING: The May NOFARS newsletter included ARRL bulletin 999. It was an earthshaker. In 1965, all operators except Novices and Technicians had equal operating privileges. A push mainly by ARRL for a licensing structure with more privileges for higher class licensees began four or five years earlier. Hams knew FCC would act and apprehension ran high, especially among Generals who could lose access to parts of popular high frequency bands.

Generals comprised by far the largest segment of operator population. Maybe 5% were Extras during the early 1960s.

From bulletin 999:"FCC proposed extensive amateur rules changes and solicited comments by July 15. Highlights include a new First Class license requiring one year experience plus 16 wpm code and written test between General and Extra in difficulty.

One year after rules are effective, the lowest 25 kc. and after two years, the lowest 50 kc. of 80,40,20 and 15 meter CW bands would be restricted to Extra Class. After one year, the lowest fourth, and after two years, the lower half of 80, 40, 20 and 15 meter phone bands would be restricted to Extra and First Class licensees.

Advanced Class (old Class B) licenses would be renewed only as General. Extra and First Class licensees would get 2-letter (1x2) calls, Conditionals would have WC prefix and Technicians WT prefix."

Some details in the proposal changed before enactment. The First Class license became the Advanced and the 16 wpm code test disappeared. Exclusive band segments on phone and CW were reduced in an attempt to placate opponents. No distinctive WC or WT prefixes. But the main concept of incentive licensing remained intact.

LICENSE STRUCTURES: After the Communications Act of 1934 created the FCC, it issued amateur licenses in three grades. The highest was Class A (13 wpm code test, basic and advanced written tests, one year of experience) It bestowed all amateur privileges.

The Class B license (13 wpm code test, basic written test) granted all privileges except 75 and 20 meter phone operation. A and B license exams were given only at FCC offices or examination points. The Class C license was the same as Class B except testing was administered locally by a Class A or B operator who mailed the completed exam back to FCC.

The license classes became Novice, Technician, Conditional, General, and Amateur Extra Class. Novices licenses were only for one year and non-renewable, denoted by a WN 2x3 call sign. Upon upgrade, the N was dropped. The Technician Class(5 wpm code test and basic written exam, the same as General) was mainly for experimentation with privileges only above 220 MHz. Conditional licenses were equivalent to General but taken by mail if the applicant lived more than a specified distance from an FCC field office or quarterly examination point.

Conditionals could be called in for re-examination. At least one Jacksonville-area ham (who was an ARRL elected official) had his Conditional license revoked after failing a re-examination by FCC.

The new Amateur Extra exam included a 20 wpm code test along with basic and higher level written tests. At least two years of experience as a General, Conditional or Advanced licensee were required. These exams were given only at FCC examination points or field offices.Conditionals, Generals and Extras all received full band privileges so there was little incentive to upgrade. This was to be controversial during the mid-1960s.﻿

JUNE 1965: From the newsletter--"Field Day is close at hand and we do hope to have a successful time, we hope to make our quota on points this year, with all the good Amateurs and chairmen we have, I am sure we will. The committee workers will be: Chairman--W4MVB-Jesse; Antenna Committee--WA4IVU-Ralph; Power--K4GHG-Smitty, WA4KLM-Buddy, WA4WPQ-Carl; Site Committee--W4GUJ-John, WA4MRK-George; Food--WA4KLN-Louise, K4GHG XYL-Eva; Publicity--K4VRI Claude; Housing--W4PLE-Landon.

"The location for field day will be at the Ray Greene Park. Go expressway north to Dunn Ave. West on Dunn to Biscayne Blvd., straight to Leonid Ave. one-half mile to park."

"We will operate one rig in the Club room and there will be two tents for the other two rigs. We are well prepared in case of rain. If you like stew and potatoes, we can accommodate you."

JULY 1965: The newsletter reported that 15 NOFARS members manned the signal bridges and shore stations and kept the officials yachts co-ordinated at the St. Johns Regatta. Our workers " had a fine time and got some chow to boot. It was a good day for Amateur Radio."

"WA4GVM maintained his position as master-of-the-towers. With him talking and everyone else lifting, the 50 foot mast went up easy. Ralph, WA4IVU showed off his electric personality as he made the PA announcements over a 'hot Mike.'

"WA4WOW had the most dignified watch aboard the M. V. Moon River Queen He made sure the liquid refreshments got abord before the lines were cast off.

"WA4NEV Bill will also spin a yarn about seeing his skipper go overboard and an XYL at that."

Project OSCAR was the subject at the July 8th NOFARS meeting.

The newsletter continues "Victor Moore, WA4LVS just completed his homebrew SSB rig. He is now building a full gallon amplifier.

"All this chin music and no news of field day, well here's the dope. We operated two stations and we made 749 contacts. We made 386 on phone and 363 cw.

"Now how about this, Ray W4BYG was sending CW so fast that his Swan sent smoke out the window. Slow down Ray amateur gear is expensive."

"From Jesse and all the board of directors, we wish to express our great appreciation to one and all who participated in our field day event. It made our great day a success, especially due to Dr. Reilly and Smittys XYL Eva for her grand job of cooking the food she prepared and Dr. Reilly and George for such delicious stew. And many thanks for all the others that gave us a helping hand."

Several NOFARS members planned a VHF-UHF DXpedition to Mount Mitchell near Asheville, NC.--the highest point east of the Mississippi River. During even hours, the group planned to operate on two meters using 145.2 MHz and during odd hours on 432.0 MHz. using SSB, AM and CW (no FM apparently). Operators included W4MVB, WA4NEV, WA4CCE (now AF4LU), WA4UQO and WA4WPQ.

﻿

AUGUST 1965: Bob Murphy, K4PZW spoke at the August 12th NOFARS meeting at the Riverside Avenue Christian Church on the corner of Cherry St. He talked about operating two meters and above. The set-up at his Southside home included large VHF and UHF arrays and Bob was very active on these higher bands. Another five years or so elapsed before the first VHF repeater appeared in Jacksonville. Around twenty local hams used VHF simplex in Jacksonville then and weekly nets met on 6 and 2 meters. But distance was limited and equipment was very crude compared to what we now have.

NOFARS helped fund the purchase of a Heath HW-32 twenty-meter transceiver for use at a remote hospital in Trujillo, Honduras. Members donated and NOFARS treasury underwrote the $125 cost for the unit and an HP-13 power supply. Jacksonville area doctors volunteered to train Honduran doctors at the hospital. The rig was used to allow them to communicate back to Jacksonville from the hospital which was described as inaccessible except by air. A local physician, Dr.John Fisher, used his small aircraft to commute and coordinate the project. The Honduran government licensed the hospital ham station as HR4KP.

OCTOBER 1965: A NOFARS picnic on Saturday, October 16, 1965 on Little Talbot Island starting at 10AM with lunch at noon. "Bring your own food and drinks--no 807s." A two-meter hidden transmitter hunt. A general class theory class at Technical Senior High School on King St. meets on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. W4MVB teaching the class. Around 25 people attend each session. HR4KP on the air from a small hospital in Honduras using a Heathkit HW-32 supplied by NOFARS.

NOVEMBER 1965: NOFARS club call was WA4QCN. We requested K4JAX but FCC issued us that sequential callsign instead. We got W4IZ in late 1966. NOFARS finished with the top Florida score during 1965 Field Day at Ray Greene Park in Highlands according to results in November QST. ﻿

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